Aggies Take Down Lumberjacks
The Lumberjacks got 12 points from Jereal Scott and 10 from Antonio Bostic, but shot just 23 percent in the first half and 28 percent for the game as the No. 25 Texas A&M Aggies took a 55-42 win over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night at Reed Arena.

STORY LINES• Stephen F. Austin ran its record to 5-0 for the first time since the 1981-82 season on Saturday with a win over San Diego, but now faces its toughest test of the season to date when it puts its perfect record on the line on Wednesday at Texas A&M.

• SFA is gunning for its first win over the Aggies since the 1970-71 season. Texas A&M has won each of the last 13 meetings in the series.

• SFA currently has five players averaging at least five points per game, but senior post player Taylor Smith is the only player to reach double figures in all of SFA’s first five games of the year, putting up a season-high 18 points in SFA’s win over San Diego.

THE LAST TIME OUT• Taylor Smith had 17 points and eight rebounds and Jacob Parker had a career-high 16 points as the Lumberjacks never trailed in a 57-41 win at Tulsa. SFA held the Golden Hurricane to just 18 points in the first half and got 10 assists from point guard Hal Bateman in winning its fourth game in its last five match-ups with an opponent from Conference USA.

UP NEXT• SFA avenged a loss at San Diego a year before by knocking off the Toreros, 56-51, in Nacogdoches on Saturday. Taylor Smith led SFA with 18 points and six rebounds and the ‘Jacks managed to overcome 50-percent shooting by USD by forcing 20 San Diego turnovers. The ‘Jacks trailed by three midway through the first half, but used a 10-2 lead to end the opening period and never trailed in the second 20 minutes of play despite USD cutting the lead to as little as two points with less than three minutes to play.

QUICK HITS• The Lumberjacks will be looking to extend their streak of 37 consecutive games of holding opponents under 70 points. SFA went all of 2011-12 without allowing 70 points to an opponent and has done so in the first five games of this season.• After outrebounding their first four opponentsthis year, the Lumberjacks had out rebounded their last 14 opponents dating back to last season before San Diego put an end to that streak on Saturday by drawing even in rebounds, 26-26.• SFA’s win over Tulsa was its fourth win in its last five games vs Conference USA opponents.• SFA is 39-0 vs non-Division I programs in the Danny Kaspar era. • Stephen F. Austin and Wisconsin are the only two programs in the nation to be ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense each of the last five seasons.

Series NotesThe ‘Jacks have not picked up a win against the Aggies since the 1970-71 season, having dropped each of the last 13 meetings in the series. SFA has traveled to College Station each of the last two seasons and has faced TAMU three times during Danny Kaspar’s tenure, allowing more than 55 points just once in those games.

SITTIN’ ON 20: The ‘Jacks have six 20-win campaigns since becoming a Division I program in 1988. All six of those 20-win seasons have come under Danny Kaspar.

FRONT RUNNING: Through four games SFA has played a total of 200 minutes of court time, and astonishingly enough, has only trailed for just 2 minutes and 54 seconds to date. In addition, the ‘Jacks have only been tied for 4 minutes and 34 seconds, meaning in 200 total minutes of game time SFA has only not held a lead for 7 minutes and 28 seconds, which is just 26.7 percent of time played.

SUB-SEVENTY: SFA has held each of its 32 opponents under 70 points in 2011-12, and has done the same in each of its first five games of 2012-13 to extend its school-record streak of sub-70 defensive performances. The last team to score 70 on the ‘Jacks was Northwestern State, when they did so in a 70-65 win over SFA in 2010-11 in Natchitoches, La.

OKLAHOMA HOMECOMING:Jacob Parker had a career afternoon in SFA’s win at Tulsa, scoring a career-high 16 points and pulling down four rebounds. A native of Bixby, Okla., which is just outside of Tulsa, Parker hit seven of his 10 shots from the field, including a pair of three-point buckets.

DEFENSE FIRST: The Lumberjacks finished third in the nation in scoring defense at 54.7 points per game allowed in 2011-12, a new school record. SFA has finished the year ranked among the top 10 in scoring defense in each of the last five seasons, including leading the nation in 2011 with 56.7 points per game and No. 2 rankings in both 2008 and 2009. This year has started off no different as SFA is leading the nation in scoring defense again, allowing just 44.2 points per game through its first five contests.

HOME NON-CONFERENCE: SFA has won 36 of its last 38 home, non-conference games, dating to the 2006-07 season. Each of those two losses have been by two points apiece, coming to Florida International in 2011-12 and Texas Tech in 2009-10. The Lumberjacks are now 64-5, overall, in home, non-conference games in 13 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE: Not since the 1957-58 season had the ‘Jacks pulled off what they managed to pull off in its season opener vs Howard Payne. SFA held HPU to just 30 points on the night, the least amount scored by an SFA opponent since Sam Houston State put up 30 in a 40-30 loss to the ‘Jacks in the 1957-58 season. Against the Yellow Jackets, SFA allowed just 15 shots to fall from the floor, none from beyond the arc and HPU missed its only free throw of the game.

CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS: SFA did not have a single player in the Southland Conference top 10 in rebounding in 2011-12, but this year sport the league’s No. 2 rebounder in Taylor Smith (8.4 rpg) and is already atop the league in rebound margin, pulling down 8.6 rebounds per contest more than its opponent, just one year after leading the Southland in rebound margin (+7.4 rpg). The ‘Jacks have not been outrebounded by an opponent in five tries this season.

AGAINST THE SEC: SFA has very little history against teams from the Southeastern Conference and, in fact, has only played games against four current members of the SEC with two of those opponents - Texas A&M and Missouri - just entering the league this year. In all, SFA is just 0-3 against SEC teams and is 0-2 in those games under Danny Kaspar, with each of those losses coming at Arkansas.

HAL DO YOU DO?: Senior point guard Hal Bateman dished out a career-high 11 assists in SFA’s season-opening win over Howard Payne, the most for a Lumberjack since Eric Bell had 11 dimes in a road win at Northern Illinois during the 2007-08 season. Three games later he doled out another 10, making him the first ‘Jack since Marcus Clark in 2004-05 to have multiple games in the same season with 10+ assists.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE: The ‘Jacks did plenty of damage from the perimiter in its win over Howard Payne, hitting 10 of its 17 shots from beyond the arc. Five of the threes came from junior transfer Deshaunt Walker, and the 10 triples were the most since the ‘Jacks hit 10 in a win over Chicago State in 2010

BLOCK PARTY:Taylor Smith averaged 1.31 blocks pe rgame in less than 20 minutes of play as a junior, but this year that number is expected to skyrocket, and through four games he has not disappointed. Smith, who was a two-time league defensive player of the year at McLennan CC before coming to SFA, has 13 blocks (2.6 bpg) in the first five games of the season. Only two SFA players in the Division I era have blocked more shots in a single season than Smith’s 42 a year ago and only one Lumberjack has ever led the league in blocks -- Tim Holloway in 1989-90.

HOME DEFENSE: SFA is known for its defensive prowess, but it is even moreso evident when playing at William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA has held its opponents to 50 points or fewer in 16 of 34 games at home in the last three seasons, allowing just 51.6 points per game at home in 2010-11 and 53.1 points per game in 2011-12. It is allowing just 40.0 points per game through three home games this season.

HALF WAY THERE: The ‘Jacks were not at their best when playing from behind in 2011-12, but were exceptional when playing from out in front. That was most evident by the fact that the ‘Jacks went 19-1 a year ago when taking a lead into the half. Conversely, SFA was 1-11 when trailing at the break. This season, SFA has taken a halftime lead into the locker room in all five games it has played, holding three of those opponents to less than 20 points in the opening period.

SAFE AT HOME: In 12-plus seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 139-35 (.798) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 335-126 (.726) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA has recorded seven straight seasons and nine campaigns in last 10 years with double-digit wins at home.

GLASS COMMANDER:Thomas Walkup was perfect from the floor in his collegiate debut with 11 points vs Howard Payne, but since then has made his biggest impact on the glass. The redshirt freshman is averaging just less than 18 minutes per game, but is pulling down five boards per contest in his time, which is second on the team. More impressively, he is hauling in three offensive boards per game, a mark which ranks fourth in the Southland Conference.

BOOM BOSTIC: Senior guard Antonio Bostic was named the Southland Conference men’s basketball player of the week for the season’s second week after leading SFA to a win at FIU on Saturday. Bostic, a first team all-SLC choice last season, poured in a career-high 23 points in a 69-60 win over the Golden Panthers, helping SFA to a 2-0 start to the season and avenging a two-point loss to FIU last year in Nacogdoches. The senior hit eight of his 14 shots from the floor, including three from long distance and had 17 of his points in the first half while the `Jacks were building a 40-24 lead at the break.

KASPAR KOUNTER:Danny Kaspar picked up his 200th win at SFA in last year’s season opener vs Centenary currently stands third all-time at SFA in head coaching wins with 224, trailing only Marshall Brown (345) and Bob Shelton (245). Kaspar also has 443 career wins between his time at SFA and Incarnate Word, second among active Southland Conference to Northwestern State’s Mike McConathy’s 542 wins, 352 of which came at the junior college ranks.

BELOW FIFTY: SFA held 10 opponents below 50 points each of the last two seasons. In 12 seasons under Danny Kaspar the Lumberjacks have held an opponent to 50 points or fewer on 57 occasions, losing just five of those games. This year, SFA has held three of its four opponents under 50 points.